Couldn't quite get it together...

Hello again!

I just got back from my trip to Santa Fe with my husbands side of the family. I had a lot of fun and the weather was just perfect! Unfortunately I was unable to finish even a stitch on either of the projects that I took with me. I took my scrapghan and enough yarn to make some pumpkins. Both projects are extremely portable and I thought that I'd make quite a bit of progress. I was wrong....

I tried working on my projects on the drive there but I couldn't get my fingers to work and the yarn was tangled and before I knew it there was more yarn in the floorboard than going into my projects. I decided to put it aside and have fun getting to know my in-laws more. They live about 12 hours away from us and we only get to see them about once a year. My mother-in-law is very crafty. She makes the most amazing quilts and she even used to crochet. We talked the whole way and I'm glad for the progess that wasn't made on these projects.

Now looking forward I'm curious what type of progress will be made when I go on my Fall Foliage trip with my mom in a few weeks. We get along so well and we can waste so much time just talking and laughing. She is truly my best friend and I can share anything with her.

I'm not looking forward to returning to work. I wish I could stay home and get the blue beast done! I'm so close to being done and with the weather turning, I'd rather be under it watching a movie with my family. The closer to finishing a project I get the less I enjoy working on it for some reason. I always get very rushed and feel like it has to be done two weeks ago.

I'm off to make some pumpkin bread and hopefully get my crochet mojo back.

Until next time...

Wanderlust

Hello everyone!

Looking forward to the next few months is so exciting. Next weekend my husband and I are going to meet his parents in Sante Fe. Two weeks after that, my mom and I are traveling to Canadian TX to see the fall foliage. And then in the first weeks of November I'm going to be flying to Houston to see my best friend. I'm already busy busy trying to get my life together enough to be away from home the majority of the next two months.

Aside from packing my clothes and getting my work life in order I'm trying to figure out which crochet project I'll be bringing along on all of these trips. The first two trips I'll be in a vehicle and then I'll travel to and from Houston by plane. Of course the things I'll take in the air are much different than what can go in a vehicle.

On the first two trips I'll be taking either the Scrapghan or the blue granny square blanket. I'm hoping to finish the blue blanket on the trip to Santa Fe so that I can focus on the Scrapghan on my mom's fall trip. Since we'll be in a car I'll be able to pack a little more than if I were going to the airport. Here is what I'm taking.

1. Thirty One Gifts - Timeless Beauty Bag (Find one here!)
               I love this bag! I've used it for jewelry, makeup and school. I ran across a post on instagram which showed a crocheter using this bag to hold all of the "tools". I ran to my bedroom and pulled this bag out and started organizing my hooks, stitch markers and scissors. I love the way it looks and it is very compact. This bag is a must have for travel!

2. Thirty One Gifts - Essential Storage Tote (Find one here!)
               I use this bag to hold my yarn and the project I'm working on. It is super roomy inside and the print is just beautiful! I have mine in black chevron and I love it!

3. The Tools

• Crochet Hooks (I bought this set recently and I'm quite happy with it!)
• Stitch markers from the same set as the crochet hooks. 
• Needles for weaving in ends. These are also included in the set above. 
• Scissors - These were purchased at Target. Any scissors will do. 

That is all I'm be taking to Santa Fe and on our Fall Leaves trip. I'm excited for these trips and the progress that I'll hopefully make on these projects!

Until next time.  

So Close!

Hello again!

This week has been all about finishing my granny square blanket that I talked about last week. I've got so many new projects running through my mind that I'm forcing myself to stay focused on this blanket so that I can finish it and start enjoying it! I have about 10 rows left and then a simple border that I think will finish it off nicely.

While working on this blanket I think about my grandma often. Every year, the women in my family get together to eat great food and spend time getting to know each other. There are so many of us and we are spread out in so many directions that it can be hard to relate to someone you are related to. I've found that since I've started crocheting it's been much easier to connect with my family. We all have at least one afghan that grandma gave us and we all have memories of her working on one project or another. This year we'll be meeting the first weekend of December and I can't wait to share some special memories of that day.

I better get back to work on this granny square blanket. I need to have it completed before the gathering because I'm hoping to convince a few of my cousins to help me with a project for our mom's.....

More on that later.

Have a great week!

Everyone needs a week off right....

This week has been quite hectic and I've neglected every single project in my WIP (Work In Progress) basket. I've also been very bad at posting to Instagram. I'm hoping that things will start to look up in the next few days. I'm going to pick up a very old project tonight and hope that this will give me enough of a refresh to start the new week off on the right foot.

Tonight I'm working on a large Granny Square blanket that has been a WIP for over a year. I started this project as a way to learn the Granny Square stitch and once started, I couldn't put it down. Eventually other projects came along and this blanket got pushed further and further from my mind. After finishing my last project (a baby blanket that will have it's own post soon enough) I made my mind up to finish this blanket.

My favorite part about this blanket is the mistakes. When I first started the project I wasn't quite sure how to change colors so I would finish the row completely and then start on the next row with the new color. This worked well until I ran across a post on Pinterest about how to change colors. I realized that if you start with the next color just one stitch sooner, your project looks much more professional.

I'm thinking that I need two more color rotations and then a border. I haven't quite figured the border out yet but I've got a few ideas to play around with. I'm hoping to use this blanket in my guest room and then build the decor around it.

Enjoy!!

Sunday Fun Day!!

Hello and Happy Sunday!

Sunday's are my favorite day of the week. Like most families in the US we spend the day watching Football and eating delicious food. Since I'm not into Football, Sundays mean CROCHET! While my family has the game on I have my project of the week out. I can get more accomplished on Sunday than any other day of the week. Today I am working on a project that I am very excited about! A few months ago I found a beautiful Instagram account with a scrapghan tutorial that I knew I had to try. Find the tutorial here. I love everything that b.hooked does! She is the most talented person and her patterns/videos are very easy to follow.

So far I've made 74 squares. I'm using 6 different colors and and my dominant color is white. I'm very happy with the progress and I can't wait to get see the finished afghan.

Hello! My name is....

I guess that I should probably start at the beginning. My name is Shiray and I am 27 years old. I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. My husband and I have been married for 3 very happy years! We do not have any children now but would like to start a family someday. I do work full time and I don't have a lot of extra time but I do hope that one day I can cut back on my hours and focus a lot of time on blogging and creating new crochet patterns.

Crochet is in my blood. When I was a young girl, I watched my Grandma crochet all day long. If she wasn't cooking she was crocheting and she was the most talented woman I've ever known. She sat me down one day and taught me how to make a chain but she passed away before she could teach me how to turn. What she taught me impacted me more than she could have ever imagined. After her passing I didn't touch a crochet hook for many years. About 4 years ago I was having some issues handling stress and B, my sweet husband, told me that I needed to find a hobby. I didn't know where to start so I got on Pinterest and searched for a hobby. A crocheted baby blanket was the first thing that popped up and the rest, as they say, is history. I got on Youtube and taught my self how to do a single crochet and then I graduated to a double crochet. I was hooked!

I am still perfecting my skills but I'm eager to learn and I hope to document this journey here. I hope you'll come along with me!

Until next time....